Copyright
Copyright vs. Documenting your Sources
When someone creates something, they have the right to be recognized as the creator and to control how, when and where their creation is used. This is called copyright, and it applies to students just as much as to anyone else.
A couple of key things to know:
If you are creating something for a school project, which only your teachers or classmates might see, then documenting your sources is all you really need to worry about. So, for example, if you include photos you found on the internet or add a song to your slide show, as long as you give credit to where you found those things using MLA or APA, then you are good.
BUT if your work is going to be public in any way, such as if you post it online outside of a password protected place like your online classroom, then you DO need to do MORE than just add documentation. If you use someone else's creation in something you are sharing publicly, then you need to make sure that you have the right to do so. If you take something someone else made and change it in some to use as part of your own creation, then you need to make sure you have the right to do so. Just because you found it on the internet does not mean that it is ok for you to use it for your own public benefit.
If you create something original and you want to share it with others publicly, then you need to decide how you want to do that...is this something you hope to earn money from and should be only for you to use? Is this something you just want to share and it is ok for others to do whatever they want with it? Or do you want to limit what others should do with it. You can add a Creative Commons to your work to let people know your expectations.
"Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that enables the sharing and use of creativity and knowledge through free legal tools.
Our free, easy-to-use copyright licenses provide a simple, standardized way to give the public permission to share and use your creative work — on conditions of your choice. CC licenses let you easily change your copyright terms from the default of “all rights reserved” to “some rights reserved.”
Creative Commons licenses are not an alternative to copyright. They work alongside copyright and enable you to modify your copyright terms to best suit your needs.
If you want to give people the right to share, use, and even build upon a work you’ve created, you should consider publishing it under a Creative Commons license. CC gives you flexibility (for example, you can choose to allow only non-commercial uses) and protects the people who use your work, so they don’t have to worry about copyright infringement, as long as they abide by the conditions you have specified.
If you’re looking for content that you can freely and legally use, there is a giant pool of CC-licensed creativity available to you. There are hundreds of millions of works — from songs and videos to scientific and academic material — available to the public for free and legal use under the terms of our copyright licenses, with more being contributed every day." (from http://creativecommons.org/about)
Find out more about online copyright issues and the Creative Commons system.. .
GOOGLE SEARCH TIP: when you search for images using Google, click on images, then "search tools" then "usage rights" and you can narrow your search results to only those labelled "for reuse" or "for non-commercial reuse with modifications", etc. This allows you to be confident you are not breaking copyright.
When you find an image you like, make sure to click on it to find out the source before you download or copy it, so you can cite it properly in your project ("Google search" is NOT a source you can put on a bibliography!)
